Ballad in Plain E

I only caught the last half-hour of this session, as it was running concurrently to the WOMM session. I wish I’d been able to attend the whole thing. Fortunately, one of my colleagues was there for the whole session and took meticulous notes, which she’ll be sharing! This panel was composed of librarians who used to be vendors/trainers and vice versa, and they offered frank discussion on how to improve vendor-librarian relations and negotiations. Here’re are some of the tips I caught:

• Always stay professional; keep your emotions out of the equation
• What’s in it for me: the trainer should tell the audience within the first 30-seconds, but you may need to help them focus that pitch by immediately telling them your needs
• The vendor is never out to get you, personally, just your firm’s business, at any cost
• Put yourself in the other’s shoes before you meet
• Don’t pass the buck: if you do, the vendor will go above your head to the person who they think can make the decision - keep yourself in the transaction
• The schmooze factor works both ways
• If you feel you’re stuck with a bad vendor, don’t waste your time. Request a new one.
• Take advantage of librarian-relations programs and services
• If you really don’t have the money, be honest and firm and say just that. If you have a particularly persistent vendor who won’t listen, be serious: “You will NEVER get my business if you don’t stop this.”
• When working with trainers, be specific. Tell them not to train outside your contract. Good trainers keep notes and should remember your preferences and specifications.

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 21st, 2008 at 2:47 pm and is filed under Conference Notes, sla2008. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.